1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a low inserting force terminal whose elastic contact arm is made slidable along the inner wall of the electrical contact unit so as to reduce inserting force of a mating terminal.
2. Related Art
FIGS. 5 and 6 show a terminal of the prior art (disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-106011, for instance).
As shown in FIG. 5, the terminal 35 comprises a box-like electrical contact unit 36 and an elastic contact arm 37 separately formed inside the electrical contact unit 36. A wire joining portion (not shown) is formed at the rear end of the electrical contact unit 36.
A first edge 39 of the elastic contact arm 37 is secured to the bottom wall 38 of the electrical contact unit 36. As a mating male terminal 41 is inserted into the electrical contact unit 36, a second edge (free edge portion) 40 of the elastic contact arm 37 slides rearward along the bottom wall 38, as shown in FIG. 6. As the elastic contact arm 37 bends downward (i.e., toward the bottom wall 38) due to the pressure from the male terminal 41, the free edge portion 40 of the elastic contact arm 37 slides along the bottom wall 38. The male terminal 41 is then interposed between the elastic contact arm 37 and the top wall 42 of the electrical contact unit 36, so that the female terminal 35 and the male terminal 41 are electrically connected.
With the above terminal 35 of the prior art, however, there has been a problem that the free edge portion 40 of the elastic contact arm 37 causes large frictional resistance with the bottom wall 38 of the electrical contact unit 36. As a result of this, the inserting force of the male terminal 41 becomes higher, and workability in terminal insertion gets worse.